63 
southward from allotment 169. Another range, known as the Gentle Annie 
Range, runs nearly east and west near the centre of the parish, and branches 
southward for about 2 miles beyond the parish boundary. Half-a-mile north 
of the township of Dookie is the Saddleback Hill, while 2J miles a little east 
of south from the township is the Mount Major Range running nearly east 
and west. The west knob of Gentle Annie Range rises 600 feet, Mount Major 
750 feet, and Mount Saddleback 425 feet above the plain. Dookie railway 
station is 488 feet above sea-level. Between the hills are wide alluvial valleys 
and flats, and the great plain of the Murray stretches away to the northward. 
Highly altered, thin-bedded cherty rocks occur sandwiched among the diabase; 
they are exposed on the north side of Mount Saddleback in a small gap, also 
on the north side of the Mount Major Range, on the top of the most western 
knob of Gentle Annie Range, a few chains east of the cemetery, and at other 
places. Wherever these sedimentary beds are disclosed they are highly 
metamorphosed. 
The soil which results from the decomposition of the varieties of diabase 
and from the sedimentary rocks ranges through grey, red and black in colour 
and from loose sandy loams to stifi clays. Its fertility also varies widely. 
In allotment 169, which is a reserve in the north-east of the parish, there 
is a calcite vein about 12 feet wide, traversing diabase rocks. It appears to 
occupy a fissure, and in parts is thickly studded with fragments of the country 
rock forming a breccia. The strike of the vein is approximately N. 25° W., 
and its course is uneven. Portions of the vein are almost pure calcite, and 
formerly this was burned into lime and sent for long distances. The old kiln 
is still standing. The vein has been worked in the lowest quarry for a length 
of about 3 chains, and to a depth of about 10 feet. The floor of the quarry 
is covered with debris, and, consequently, it could not be seen whether the 
vein continued downwards, but it probably does. There are other quarries 
